Marouane Fellaini would love to lead Everton FC into the Champions League declares David Moyes

12 November 2012 12:00

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David Moyes believes Everton can match the ambition of Marouane Fellaini after the towering Belgian produced yet another man-of-the-match display.

The 24-year-old scored his sixth goal of the Premier League season to draw the Blues level with Sunderland on Saturday before laying on the assist for Nikica Jelavic’s winning strike.
Fellaini, who signed a new five-year contract with Everton just under 12 months ago, has been one of the most outstanding players so far this season with his performances certain to have been noticed by some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Chelsea and Real Madrid are thought to be amongst his admirers but Moyes says he has no problem with clubs coming to watch their talisman.
The Everton boss says not only is there a hefty price tag on the former Standard Liege player’s head but that Fellaini wants nothing more than to help take the Blues into the Champions League.

“Everybody knows where he is and if they want to come and watch him that’s up to them,” said the Everton manager.

“It would be a big price on his head but we’ve got no problem in people coming and watching him.

“I’m not in the mood now to keep the fight going all the time because we’ve had to do it with a lot of players.

“But Felli knows what I think and I know what he thinks and I think more than anything he’d love to take Everton into the Champions League and that’s what we’ll try and achieve.

“I think we’ve got to the stage at Everton where I say ‘look, we’ve lost some really good players but I don’t think it’s stopped us from progressing the team’.

“In fact, people might say Everton have lost good players but they’ve actually gone and we’ve improved.

“We sold (Joleon) Lescott, we sold (Mikel) Arteta and we’ve all felt really down when we’ve lost those players but we’ve had to pick ourselves up and go and find other ones.

“The club will always be bigger than any player, any manager, and the players we’ve brought in are showing that.”

But Moyes was keen to stress that he remains set against selling Everton’s top players, such as Fellaini.

“I was dead against it and to be fair I’m still dead against it,” added Moyes.

“Don’t think I’m saying that people can come and just take my players. But I have to realise that if I have top players and I can’t give them trophies, cup finals, European football, I might have to accept that that’s what they’re thinking.

“My big job is to keep driving us on so they can see that Everton being a force and a real challenge. That’s probably my biggest job now to make sure that the players here can see that Everton have got a chance and be competitive in the Premier League.”

Fellaini has largely been deployed as the support player to Everton’s lone striker this season and though the Belgium international has played in a number of positions through the heart of Everton’s side since signing in 2008, Moyes believes his current position is his best.

“I actually think his best position is where he’s playing but he could be a number 10, a number eight or a number four,” he said.

“He’s probably not the Michel Platini kind of number 10 so he’s probably more a number eight who likes to join in and get in the box.

“He’s probably a little bit less disciplined than a number four who’d screen the back four so he’s probably a bit in between.”

Ultimately though, Moyes does see Fellaini as dropping deeper as he matures.

“I’ll play him in that role at different times in the season because I don’t want us to become one dimensional and play him in the same position all the time,” Moyes said.

“If we get injuries or suspensions to Ossie or Phil Neville, Felli is the obvious one who would drop in there.

“If you asked me where I think he will develop by the time he’s 28/29 I’d say he might end up dropping back but because he’s got a goal in him, because he’s a threat and can take the ball on his chest and be used direct, he becomes someone who can be used in a lot of ways.

“He’s got his size but he’s also got feather feet and he’s got great ball control.”
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